State Senate District 22 is a narrow sliver of land that runs through quiet Jefferson County suburbs, but politically speaking, it’s one of the most bitterly contested battlegrounds in Colorado.

The new state Senate district, which stretches from Littleton and Ken Caryl in the south up through Lakewood and Edgewater in the north, may be the most competitive legislative district in the state. State Rep. Andy Kerr, D-Lakewood, faces state Rep. Ken Summers, R-Lakewood, in November for the open seat.

“It is a critical seat for us,” said Rick Palacio, chairman of the Colorado Democratic Party. “It’s actually one of the most competitive state Senate seats we have. We’re going to invest as much as it takes to win.”

His counterpart at the Colorado Republican Party agreed.

“Without question, the outcome of this particular Senate race is going to have a profound impact as to which party controls a majority in the upper house in the legislature,” said Ryan Call, state GOP chairman.

Democrats are hoping to hold their 20-15 majority in the Senate, while Republicans are trying to keep their 33-32 majority in the House. In purple Colorado, either chamber could flip.

A newly drawn district, Senate District 22 is the result of Democratic-drawn maps approved by the Colorado Supreme Court and which unseated state Sen. Tim Neville, R-Littleton, who was appointed by a vacancy committee in 2010 but found himself without a district to run in after the new maps were approved in 2011.

The existing district lines, approved in 2001, were drawn so the seat covered a large portion of rural Jefferson County and had made it a Republican-leaning district. The new lines approved by courts mean Kerr and Summers are now running for a highly competitive seat in the close-in suburbs. About 34.5 percent of the district’s voters are registered Republicans, 33.5 percent are Democrats and 31.5 percent are unaffiliated.

In terms of voter performance, under the newly drawn lines, the district in 2010 would have narrowly chosen Democrat Cary Kennedy for state treasurer over Republican Walker Stapleton, who won. The treasurer’s race is considered a good indicator of a district’s partisan leanings, so it’s clear the race is expected to be close.

Making the race even more competitive, Kerr and Summers agree they each have about an equal number of voters from their House districts.

Kerr touts bipartisan approach

Kerr, 43, was appointed to his House seat in 2006 and was elected three times after that. A career social studies teacher in Jefferson County, Kerr believes he is the kind of bipartisan lawmaker who would represent the district well.

“People look at me in kind of a post-partisan way — that I’m there representing the people,” Kerr said. “I’m not representing a political faction or anything.”

But critics point to Kerr’s opposition of Senate Bill 191, legislation passed in 2010 that makes it easier to fire teachers who don’t meet performance goals. The bill passed with a bipartisan coalition, but some Democrats like Kerr with ties to teachers unions called it a huge unfunded mandate on schools.

Kerr also has been blasted for being the lead plaintiff on Kerr vs. Hickenlooper, a lawsuit that challenges the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights as violating the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit awaits a trial in federal court.

Kerr points out that there are some Republicans who are plaintiffs on the lawsuit challenging TABOR as well, such as former state Sen. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood.

“I choose to be on the side of Norma Anderson and defending the Constitution,” Kerr said, “and I choose not to be on the side of triple-felon (and father of TABOR) Doug Bruce.”

Summers eyes unaffiliated voters

Summers, 58, elected three times to his House seat, was a high school business teacher for two years before becoming an Assemblies of God minister for 28 years. He’s now the executive director of Teen Challenge of the Rocky Mountains, a faith-based organization that offers residential drug and alcohol recovery programs.

Summers is also trying to strike a nonpartisan tone with voters.

“Obviously, the unaffiliated voters are a key voting bloc,” Summers said. “The reason a lot of people are unaffiliated is they want individuals who are committed to working together to get things done.”

Summers voted in favor of Senate Bill 191, a key bipartisan vote. But Kerr points out Summers has opposed civil unions for same-sex couples, an issue that was blocked from coming up for a vote in the GOP-controlled House during the 2012 session despite there being enough Republican votes to pass it and polls showing a majority of the public now in favor of some form of legal recognition of same-sex couples.

“It seems to me that (support of civil unions) is a very moderate position,” Kerr said.

Summers, though, called civil unions a “redefinition of marriage” that should be decided by voters and a “peripheral issue relative to the focus on moving our economy forward.”

The Republican has also gotten hammered for recent comments he made defending U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman’s remarks earlier this year that President Barack Obama is “not an American” in his heart. Coffman’s remarks were seen as pandering to birther conspiracists who believe the president was born in Kenya.

Summers was quoted as saying that “there is real doubt as to, even though Mike Coffman got criticized for saying that — he questioned whether the president was a true American at heart, and I think everybody has in their minds that question.”

Summers maintains he did not question whether Obama was born in the U.S. but merely his policies. Does he regret the comments?

“I regret those who look for opportunities to distort comments,” he said.

Kerr identifies himself as strongly “pro-choice,” while Summers says he is “pro-life.” However, Summers said abortion would not be “a major focus” of his legislative agenda.

Kerr’s campaign-finance filings show he had raised a little over $90,000 as of the last report filed. Summers’ reports showed he had raised $72,000.

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